Welcome to Atlanta, Zaccharie Risacher!

[Spud2nique]

22 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

That’s great NORAD but do your job and make sure he gets 50 touches  

[RedDawg#8]

Probably the best highlight reel I’ve seen of Risacher so far. Dude was 2 years younger than he is now. This is pretty electric stuff and signs of a tremendous upside. I can’t wait to see him fill out his frame and get bigger/stronger. The combination of his speed, passing, shooting, defense, and ball handling might be the perfect blend of Trae, Dyson, and JJ mixed in to one player. Plus they are all light-skinned with the fro’ lol. We may be on to something.

 

[Hawkish]

9 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Probably the best highlight reel I’ve seen of Risacher so far. Dude was 2 years younger than he is now. This is pretty electric stuff and signs of a tremendous upside. I can’t wait to see him fill out his frame and get bigger/stronger. The combination of his speed, passing, shooting, defense, and ball handling might be the perfect blend of Trae, Dyson, and JJ mixed in to one player. Plus they are all light-skinned with the fro’ lol. We may be on to something.

 

I’m really indifferent as to what his combine numbers were.  His athleticism is functional for basketball.  Great building piece…

[RedDawg#8]

24 minutes ago, Hawkish said:

I’m really indifferent as to what his combine numbers were.  His athleticism is functional for basketball.  Great building piece…

His vert was bad but his play speed and length more than make up for any lack of explosion. Weird comparison alert; but I doubt Luka is a superior testing athlete and he is doing just fine.

[Hawkish]

16 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

His vert was bad but his play speed and length more than make up for any lack of explosion. Weird comparison alert; but I doubt Luka is a superior testing athlete and he is doing just fine.

Not weird at all — Luka actually crossed my mind.  Basketball isn’t just running and jumping.  Timing, instincts, versatility, coordination, unselfishness…this is what I’m scouting.  

[AHF]

30 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

His vert was bad but his play speed and length more than make up for any lack of explosion. Weird comparison alert; but I doubt Luka is a superior testing athlete and he is doing just fine.

Luka is doing fantastic offensively but defensively he was targeted hard in the playoffs this year.  Risacher needs to be a strong positive impact on both ends of the floor and athletic concerns for me are more about defense than offense.  My expectation is that Risacher will prove to have much strong athletic tools than Luka on the defensive end of the floor.

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, Hawkish said:

I’m really indifferent as to what his combine numbers were.  His athleticism is functional for basketball.  Great building piece…

Exactly. He covers a lot of ground. He moves extremely well laterally. He just needs to be sharper on rotations. Wallace and Joiner are showing you how it's done. Risacher is caught ball watching and making reads late too much on D so far this SL. I think he plays very hard and he might just need more conditioning 

[RedDawg#8]

8 hours ago, AHF said:

Luka is doing fantastic offensively but defensively he was targeted hard in the playoffs this year.  Risacher needs to be a strong positive impact on both ends of the floor and athletic concerns for me are more about defense than offense.  My expectation is that Risacher will prove to have much strong athletic tools than Luka on the defensive end of the floor.

ZR is already a much better athlete than Luka, my comparison was more that you can be a good player and not have a 40 inch vert.

One video breakdown I saw of him highlighted that he shows bounce just not consistently. It seems that he routinely jumps off the wrong foot which limits his max explosion. But the times he gets to take off in stride he displays the athleticism you look for.

The remedy was literally just to develop and understand his body more as he grows. Which makes sense considering he is literally all legs right now.

 He’s already pretty sticky on the ball defensively which shows his fluidity and quickness.

[AHF]

4 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

ZR is already a much better athlete than Luka, my comparison was more that you can be a good player and not have a 40 inch vert.

One video breakdown I saw of him highlighted that he shows bounce just not consistently. It seems that he routinely jumps off the wrong foot which limits his max explosion. But the times he gets to take off in stride he displays the athleticism you look for.

The remedy was literally just to develop and understand his body more as he grows. Which makes sense considering he is literally all legs right now.

 He’s already pretty sticky on the ball defensively which shows his fluidity and quickness.

Not sure I buy that explanation on his vertical.  Could he not pick the correct foot when they were testing for the combine?  Seems like that is a format you should be displaying your best case explosion.  

[RedDawg#8]

Hawk alum Shelvin Mack breaking down Risacher. Apparently they have spent some time together before in Atlanta via having the same agent.

Short story:

Not a one on one creater yet, does everything else well. Guards 1-4, can play 2-4 on offense. Likes the PNR pairing with a Trae Young and the pressure that could put on a defense.

Comps: Big playmaking wing a la Hedo Turkoglu, Trevor Ariza on defense, best case scenario is Mikal Bridges

Edited July 20 by RedDawg#8

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[RedDawg#8]

9 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Awww man, I thought Trae was a selfish wannabe franchise player who didn’t want to support the first overall pick because he was plotting his exit from Atlanta. How could this be…?

[JeffS17]

36 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Agreed, Trae! I dont actually think his ceiling is Mikal though, just different.  He because makes better offensive reads than Mikal and has potential to be a better shooter.  Hard player to pin a ceiling on because his ceiling will be related to his high bbiq, not physical traits or athleticism 

[bird_dirt]

1 hour ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Awww man, I thought Trae was a selfish wannabe franchise player who didn’t want to support the first overall pick because he was plotting his exit from Atlanta. How could this be…?

Well, he didn’t say he has a bright future playing with Trae specifically. 

[RedDawg#8]

13 minutes ago, bird_dirt said:

Well, he didn’t say he has a bright future playing with Trae specifically. 

Fair point. You’re right lol

[benhillboy]

6 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Hawk alum Shelvin Mack breaking down Risacher. Apparently they have spent some time together before in Atlanta via having the same agent.

Short story:

Not a one on one creater yet, does everything else well. Guards 1-4, can play 2-4 on offense. Likes the PNR pairing with a Trae Young and the pressure that could put on a defense.

Comps: Big playmaking wing a la Hedo Turkoglu, Trevor Ariza on defense, best case scenario is Mikal Bridges

I’m reserving judgement/ comps until he fills out, which could take a couple years.  None of those players were anywhere close to #1 pick prospects yet Ariza and (Suns) Bridges are still lofty defensive projections. The things that will most affect his impact (being able to absorb shoulders from drivers, rebounding in traffic, and attacking the rim) definitely won’t materialize until then.

He doesn’t seem to have an edge or notable intensity to his makeup, something I wouldn’t compromise with a #1 pick.  Especially coming to a team that sorely needs better intangibles, motors, and energy sources.

[Final_quest]

3 hours ago, benhillboy said:

I’m reserving judgement/ comps until he fills out, which could take a couple years.  None of those players were anywhere close to #1 pick prospects yet Ariza and (Suns) Bridges are still lofty defensive projections. The things that will most affect his impact (being able to absorb shoulders from drivers, rebounding in traffic, and attacking the rim) definitely won’t materialize until then.

He doesn’t seem to have an edge or notable intensity to his makeup, something I wouldn’t compromise with a #1 pick.  Especially coming to a team that sorely needs better intangibles, motors, and energy sources.

Being given the #1 put us in a position where we had to make a compromise, see Sarr.  They actually considered Reed Sheppard at least, even though Trae + Reed is a difficult fit.  
Trade down seemed like a decent alternative, but teams were maybe not offering that much to move up.  What would you have them do instead of Risacher.  

Haven’t seen a single person advocate for Sarr still.  Do they exist, or are they completely silent?

[AHF]

I would not be throwing in the towel at all had we drafted Sarr.  We didn’t so I’m done with him and focusing my energy on Risacher.  Hoping he will stand as the brightest star of this class at the end of the day and will immediately fill an important rotation role for a team I expect to be trying to compete to exceed the play-in this season.

[shakes]

Lots of pressure on the Hawks with this pick.   He has to fade the careers of Holland, Buzelis, C Williams in order for the front office to claim a success.   Lots of high ceiling wings in the lottery.

[swanlee]

21 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

Being given the #1 put us in a position where we had to make a compromise, see Sarr.  They actually considered Reed Sheppard at least, even though Trae + Reed is a difficult fit.  
Trade down seemed like a decent alternative, but teams were maybe not offering that much to move up.  What would you have them do instead of Risacher.  

Haven’t seen a single person advocate for Sarr still.  Do they exist, or are they completely silent?

I was for Sarr before all the Agent issues came out and his attitude was put on display. Im now glad we passed on him for Zacch.

Zacch is much more polished and adaptable and since Sarr does not want to be a center Zacch is miles ahead of Sarr at forward.

I think Landry did good vetting the players and then exposing Sarr for not being the full professional he should be.

Zacch has much better bbiq as well and seems to be way more mature.

 

 

 

Edited July 20 by swanlee